Restoring oral and facial habits for lifelong smiles.
Mouth breathing
and poor smiles
go hand in hand.
Kids who breathe mainly through their mouths face more than physical challenges. Poor breathing and sleep can make it harder to focus and may lead to behavioral issues.
We understand the unique needs of growing children and the profound impact that myofunctional therapy can have on their development. Trust Element8 to be your dedicated ally in promoting your child’s overall well-being.
Breathing well means sleeping well. And proper sleep helps the brain develop so our children can be the best student possible.
A beautiful face is seen as symmetrical and balanced, but that only happens when the face develops properly.
Braces aren’t the most ideal way to enhance a smile, the body’s ideal outcome will naturally create one! With the right input, a beautiful smile comes naturally.
Great breathing and great smiles are codependent. When we reach our fullest potential, our smile we be the emblem for amazing overall health.
Your child’s face is still growing, and how it grows matters more than most parents realize. At Breathe Modern Dentistry, we look beyond teeth alone to support childhood facial development in a way that feels proactive, empowering, and refreshingly modern. This isn’t about waiting for problems to show up. It’s about guiding growth while the body is naturally adaptable.
Facial development plays a key role in how a child breathes, sleeps, chews, and even focuses during the day. When growth is restricted or imbalanced, it can affect airway health, jaw position, and long-term alignment. That’s where children’s facial growth dentistry comes in: addressing root causes early rather than managing symptoms later.
Our airway-centered philosophy considers how the jaws, muscles, tongue, and breathing patterns work together. The result? A foundation for healthier sleep, balanced facial aesthetics, and fewer complex dental issues down the road.
Discover the impact Blossom Gum can have on developing healthy jaw function in children.
This care is not one-size-fits-all. Each child’s development is unique, and so is our approach. We use gentle, forward-thinking therapies that guide natural growth rather than forcing it. Think of it as coaching the face to grow the way it was always meant to, calmly, comfortably, and confidently.
Because airway health is central to everything we do, our pediatric-focused therapies are seamlessly connected to the same advanced philosophy that helps adults seeking a TMJ dentist, sleep apnea care, or cosmetic and restorative dentistry all under one roof.
Families in Broken Arrow, OK, and the greater Tulsa area trust us because we don’t rush growth or over-treat. We educate, collaborate, and create plans that make sense for your child now, and for the adult they’ll become. This is dentistry that thinks long-term and feels personal at every step.
If your child mouth-breathes, snores, struggles with crowded teeth, or has difficulty chewing or sleeping, early facial development support may help. Even without obvious concerns, proactive evaluation can uncover subtle patterns worth addressing sooner rather than later.
Schedule a facial development consultation and discover how modern, airway-focused care can make a lasting difference without pressure or guesswork. Call today to get started.
“For your smile to last, you need to DO AS LITTLE DENTISTRY AS POSSIBLE. And for that to happen, you’ll want to ensure that your oral health, your bite, and your chewing system is in great form. Our experience allows us to see what may stand in the way of that happening for you.”
Kids who breathe mainly through their mouths face more than physical challenges. Poor breathing and sleep can make it harder to focus and may lead to behavioral issues.
18 months of treatment.
Chronic congestion, breathing issues, tongue thrust, tongue tie.
Myofunctional Therapy and MyoBrace appliances.
Corrected tongue posture and swallowing pattern. Gained range of motion with tongue without revision. Poor tongue tone and mobility corrected.
Download our free PDF e-book by Dr. Smith.
When children breathe through their mouths instead of their noses, it affects oxygen levels, sleep, and facial growth—leading to narrow jaws and long faces.
A low or restricted tongue can’t support proper jaw development. The tongue should rest against the roof of the mouth to guide healthy facial growth.
A tongue thrust or “atypical swallow” puts pressure on the teeth instead of the palate, leading to open bites, crowding, and poor alignment over time.
Even when breathing through the nose, an open-mouth posture strains muscles and alters facial balance. Lips at rest should always be gently closed.
Today’s soft, processed foods require little chewing, depriving the jaws of the exercise they need to grow strong. Harder, natural foods help smiles develop properly.
Every parent wants the best for their child, but it’s easy to focus on the symptoms rather than the cause. Many are surprised to learn that issues like poor focus, behavior challenges, or even bedwetting often stem from exhaustion caused by mouth breathing.
Helping your child reach their fullest potential shouldn’t be a mysterious process. Here’s how easy it is.
Start with a detailed assessment to identify how breathing, tongue posture, and oral habits are affecting your child’s development.
Every plan is custom designed for the needs of your child. Therapy sessions, appliances, whatever is necessary.
We’re now partnered in helping your child reach their fullest potential. Get ready to watch them thrive!
If you don't find them here, the answers are a phone call away. Allow us to help you in any way we can.
Braces are a treatment for the outcome, not for the cause. And because braces don’t treat the cause, relapse is extremely common. We want to achieve beautiful smiles in the most natural way possible. Think of it this way, the tongue and proper breathing are the natural expanders, and your lips are your body’s natural braces. When those forces aren’t balanced, your teeth won’t either.
Therapy itself consists of a series of sessions, normally 30 minutes each. These sessions build on one another and unique exercises are taught and reviewed so we conquer proper breathing, proper tongue posture, and proper swallowing patterns.
Most cases are completed between 8 months to 18 months. The more significant needs obviously take loner, and paired with appliances the timeframes can take up to 18 months. The average is 8-10 months however.
Most sessions are only 30 minutes long.
We use a combination for your convenience. Younger children tend to do better in person, and the older the child the more often we’ll try to do virtual appointments. We don’t want children missing school or sports practices, so we work to make this is easy for everyone.
There’s a lot of free information on the web, but without diagnosing the right impairments, you won’t know where to start and which steps are necessary. The order and sequence of the therapy is custom designed for each child, this is essential to successful treatment. When paired with prescribed appliances, we can make some powerful changes that no one can achieve on their own.
Compliance of the patient is the most essential part of therapy. If the child isn’t consistent and the parents don’t encourage or support the child’s efforts, the results won’t be achieved. Some children just aren’t ready for therapy, which is something we asses during the initial consultation. We’ve postponed treatment for many children that we felt wouldn’t get the outcome that all want for the child. Compliance is the KEY FACTOR!
We’ve helped children as young as 3, but that’s not super common. The most appropriate ranges is 4-12, with kids between 6-8 being the optimum time for many children based on their cognitive maturity.
No, it’s never too late. We also treat adults in our general practice side, but the ages of development between 4-12 are simply the optimum time to correct the myofascial patterns so we amplify their developmental potential.
Facial growth influences far more than appearance. It can impact breathing patterns, sleep quality, posture, and even how the nervous system regulates rest and focus. Supporting healthy development early helps the entire body function more efficiently as your child grows.
Subtle signs like chronic mouth breathing, frequent congestion, restless sleep, teeth grinding, or difficulty keeping lips closed at rest can all point to growth patterns worth evaluating, even if teeth look straight.
No. Facial development therapy is non-invasive and works with your child’s natural growth cycles. Our goal is guidance, not force, encouraging balanced development during the years when change is most achievable.
